So, Ann-I was wondering if you were the only American keeping a pet wasp in the house to eat the spider mites but there must be more. And drying their little wings? Just goes to show you nothing keeps a good rosarian down, except when you're pruning. These are the times that try men's souls. February, oh, February. Snowed hard all morning but the sun came out this afternoon and it rose to forty. One trudges through the dog slopping days like a bear disturbed during hybernation. I think the ancestors had it right. Chop the wood, kill a beef, hens in the freezer. Then go to bed for the winter. Out at the ranch, the wood pile was as high as the house. The house smelled like chicken feathers all fall. It was awful. Everything canned, killed, frozen, chopped, stuff done, a three hour work day ensued. Uncles, grammaws, grandpas snoozed all afternoon by the woodstove. We had one rule: "Stay away from the creek!" Off I'd go, down the creek, listening to the ice crunch beneath my feet, choosing the thick parts and looking at the beautiful animal tracks. Crunch, crunch, crunch. Campanula, that's a good idea about the fan. Everything is on a water fast, now. Treebarb, they came in the mail, I don't remember when. I haven't been checking the dirt that deep but now I will. I'm pretty sure they're spider mites. They make webs and drive around like a speedway. I tried every insecticide, fly spray, soapy water, now I'm using horticultural oil. Blush Damask and Abe Darby are history now but the rest are bumbling through.

I'm not sure exactly how big it is because it's growing out through a gigantic hydrangea on a very steep slope covered in fallen trees and branches. But it has long flexible canes. I wouldn't be surprised if they were 12' or more - I haven't been able to see where they go into the ground. The hydrangea is acting like a support for it. Some branches are completely horizontal. I found a few volunteer baby roses downslope from it yesterday and eventually realized that a pair of them were growing up out of a long cane that had been flattened by a falling tree and may reach back to the mother plant. It has started rooting along its length into the ground. I didn't know you could layer roses. I foresee I'm going to learn a lot about roses this summer. :)

I'm not sure, but compare to the rose linked below. If that's it, you have something very special -- I don't think you could find it for sale anymore in the US. The user belmont8 would know better. One distinct trait this rose has is pairs of prickles under the leaves. If yours has this, I may be correct in my guess. http://www.helpmefind.com/gardening/l.php?l=2.1591.1 :-) ~Christopher

It doesn’t. Just blooms once. And lol! Something went terribly wrong with one of my sentences up there. “Every bud and stems below the buds have little fuzzy hairs on them” is the way it’s supposed to read.